Friday, May 22, 2009

A short post

One of our two outdoor cats likes to lie under our cars and also walk on the grass beside the driveway. We always try to watch out for him since he's taken to walking nearer than we'd like as we drive up. If he wants attention, he'll flop down onto the driveway showing his belly for pets. It finally happened. He was walking on the grass, when DH was backing out. Only then he was behind the car before DH knew it. Poor kitty seems to be in some pain (maybe some internal damage?), but no broken bones. We have to just wait and see. I hope he's ok, and that he's just used up one of his 9 lives.

2 comments:

DH said...

Neko passed away after about a 10 hour struggle to overcome his injuries. He was able to hobble around a bit, but couldn't walk properly. My best guess is his back was broken and he had massive internal injuries, but nothing overtly evident externally.

Mostly he just wanted to lie still and have me near him. He started stressing if I made to leave his side, and calmed down and started purring once it was clear I was staying with him. I stayed by his side most of the day, talked softly to him, and very gently stroked and petted his fur. He purred pretty much continuously until he started having trouble breathing late in the afternoon. Shortly after that he passed away.

Neko was a member of our family. He loved to be petted, and had been teaching Dear Son how to pet a cat. When DS would grab fur or hit him in his rough attempts to pet, Neko would just hunker down and take it. Afterward he would come to me for gentler pets. He would flop on his back and purr like mad.

DS and I had gotten into the habit of walking down the street to check our mailbox every afternoon. Neko would be waiting for us and would follow along, his belly flopping back and forth comically with each step. He'd flop down and invite pets every time we stopped.

He'd become a really sweet, treasured member of the family. He had about 15 good years, and one really bad day. I grieve for him terribly.

Goodbye, Neko. We loved you. :-(

Avonlea said...

Neko was so patient with Little Bit. It was very sweet. I keep expecting to see Neko waiting for us as we pull into the driveway. Or to hear his meow as he comes out from behind the bushes, asking for pets.

We buried him under the crepe myrtle tree in the backyard. I miss him very much, too.